The next morning, Amanda was busy preparing breakfast while Lee was setting the table when Glenn and Jamie bounded in. "When are we gonna' go get our tree?" Jamie questioned eagerly.
"Not until after breakfast," Amanda answered. "Why don't you boys do me a favor and make sure the other kids are up? Breakfast will be ready soon and I don't want it getting cold before they have a chance to eat it." Once the boys had run off again, she turned her attention to her husband. "You know, I was thinking..."
"Oh no, I know that look," he groaned. "You're planning something and that probably means it's something I'm not going to like."
"You won't know that if you won't let me get it out," she retorted. "But anyway, what I was thinking is that the cutting the tree down thing is much more a guy thing, so I was thinking why don't you just take the boys while I stay here with the girls?"
"And do what with them?" He knew her well enough to know there was more to the story than she was telling him.
"I want to take Ivy to a doctor," she confessed. "Even if the kids do agree to allow us to adopt them, those horrible foster parents still need to be reported and the record set straight that she wasn't kidnapped. And in a situation like this, it's best to have photographic evidence while those bruises are still visible."
"Okay, I can get on board with that, but how are you going to get her there? If I'm taking the boys to get the tree, I'll need the car to haul it back."
"I thought of that so I did some checking and the parks department has a shuttle service to take people into town, so I thought I'd use that so you could still have the car."
He shook his head in amazement. "You've already had a busy morning."
"Oh, not really. It was all in that lovely brochure you gave me," she teased.
"I knew I was going to regret that," he fired back good-naturedly. "Leave it to you to look at every detail."
"Well, do you disagree that something needs to be done? I mean, even if we get our wish and the kids come home with us, something needs to be done about those foster parents so that no more children are placed in their care to be harmed like Ivy was."
"No, I don't disagree at all. You're absolutely right."
"Besides, I thought while I was in town, I might do a little Christmas shopping," she added.
"More shopping?" he questioned incredulously. "You already bought out half the mall before we ever left Arlington."
"Yes, but that was before we met these children. Since it's their first Christmas without their mom and dad and we have a ton of stuff for the boys, I feel like we should do something for them too, especially if we're going to make them a part of our family. Plus, they lost everything when their home burned down. I'm sure they could use some new clothes and since they only have that one book and Sunny likes to read...and Ivy doesn't have any toys...and Glenn, well, he misses playing baseball so I thought maybe we could get him some baseball stuff...and..."
"Okay, okay, I get your point," he interrupted her ramble with an approving smile. "Go shop 'til you drop."
She planted a quick kiss to his lips. "Thank you, Sweetheart."
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Two hours later, Lee was out at the tree lot with all three boys while they perused the selection of trees. "I like this great big one," Phillip gushed excitedly. "You can put more presents under it."
Lee laughed at his stepson's logic. "Keep in mind we don't have a great big space to put it in. Besides, a bigger tree isn't going to change the number of presents your mom and I already bought for you."
While they looked around more, the park ranger who'd directed them to their cabin the day before approached them. "Can I help you folks narrow down your choices a bit?"
"I think we'll figure it out. Thanks," Lee replied. "Right, fellas?" When he saw the ranger eyeing them suspiciously, he questioned, "Was there something else?"
"Ummm...yeah...I could've sworn when you arrived yesterday that you and your wife only had two boys, not three." He nodded to Glenn.
"Oh, no, we have three," Lee quickly covered. "You just missed the youngest because he was asleep in the back of the wagon using one of the suitcases as a pillow." He nodded to the orphan boy, "Right, Glenn?"
"Right," the boy readily agreed, not wanting to get into any trouble.
"If you have kids yourself, I'm sure you know how they can get on long car rides," Lee added, hoping his story would appease the too-curious ranger.
"Right, sure." The other man nodded and tipped his hat. "I was just a bit concerned because I had to chase some runaway kids out of one of the cabins a couple of days ago. Just wanted to make sure he wasn't one of them."
"Nope, he's all ours," Lee assured him with a smile. I hope, he added mentally. "Now, if you don't mind, my boys and I have some more tree-hunting to do."
"Sure thing. Have fun."
Once the ranger was gone, Glenn smiled gratefully at Lee. "Thanks...for covering for us."
Lee's smile faded a bit. "Well, you could've warned us that you'd already been spotted hiding out here."
"Yeah...sorry," the boy replied sheepishly. "We...uh...we just didn't wanna' get in trouble."
"I know, I know, but you're gonna' have to be honest with us from now on, okay? Especially if we're all going to be a family someday soon."
Glenn looked at him curiously. "Huh?"
At the stupefied look on the boy's face, it hit Lee that Glenn hadn't been a part of that conversation. "Oh, right. You were asleep. Well, Amanda and I..."
"And us too," Jamie chimed in.
"Well, we...uh...we were talking about making the three of you a permanent part of our family."
"Really?" His eyes lit up.
"So, you're okay with that? You know, all of us, you, me, Amanda, Phillip Jamie, Sunny-"
"No," Glenn's face fell at the mention of his big sister. When he saw a look of disappointment cross Lee's face, he explained, "I mean, it's a really cool idea and all and I'd like that, but Sunny...she'd never agree to it."
"Then we'll just have to put our heads together and come up with a way to change her mind, won't we?" Lee did remember how hesitant the girl had seemed last night, but he was hoping that was just her skepticism that anyone cared. But what if her brother was right.
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While Lee was with the boys, Amanda was at a walk-in clinic with Ivy, who was being examined and a sullen Sunny, who grumbled, "I thought you said you weren't going to turn us in."
"This isn't about turning you in, I promise," Amanda replied gently. "This is about getting justice for your sister. You don't want what happened to her to happen to some other kid, do you?"
"Well...no," she admitted. "But once the cops get involved, won't we be in trouble?"
"We'll just have to explain the situation," Amanda answered optimistically. "You know, the police can be pretty understanding when it comes to extreme circumstances like yours."
"That's what you think," the girl muttered. "They always just wanna' take us right back to some home."
"I promise you I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that doesn't happen."
Once the doctor was finished with his examination and taking photographs of the abuse, he informed her, "I can definitely understand your concern, Mrs. Stetson. I've already had one of the nurses contact the local sheriff's department and plan to fully inform them of what I see here. They should be here any time so you can give them your statement as well."
"Thank you, Doctor."
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Lee and the boys returned to the cabin and the four of them together hauled their prize inside and set it upright in the stand they'd packed. "I can't wait to start decorating this thing," Phillip whooped, feeling proud of himself that he'd helped to pick out the ornaments to bring along and that his mother had trusted him enough to do so.
"Now, hold on, Phillip," Lee admonished him. "I think we should wait for your mom to get back because she'll want us all to do it together as a family."
"Yeah, Bozo!" Jamie jeered.
"Hey, no name-calling! You know how your mom feels about that."
"Sorry."
Lee glanced at his watch. "Where is your mom anyway? We were out there for a long time looking at trees." He began to grow concerned as he realized just how much time had passed. He and the boys had been out there for at least two hours before they could all agree on a tree, then there had been the time it took to cut it down, strap it to the top of the wagon, drive it back and haul it inside and set it up. "I guess maybe she got carried away with her shopping," he answered himself.
"Yeah, Mom goes a little crazy at Christmastime," Phillip nodded.
"That's probably all it is," Lee tried to reassure himself, hoping that really was all there was to it, but years in the intelligence business had made him somewhat paranoid when things didn't go according to plan. He shook off his worries and clapped his hands together, "Okay, while we're waiting for the girls to get back, let's at least get some stuff started. Phillip, since you helped pick out the ornaments from the house, why don't you start unpacking them, but be careful not to break any of them. Your mother will have a fit if you do."
"Oh, yeah, I know," Phillip acknowledged, remembering how she'd scolded him over that very thing.
"And Jamie, why don't you get some water for the tree and Glenn, you and I will get to untangling the lights since that's a two-man job." he gestured to the box he knew contained the strings of Christmas lights.
"You got it," Glenn replied.
Another hour passed and with the other tasks complete, all four men were embroiled in the daunting task of untangling the lights, Lee pausing every few minutes to check his watch again his worry growing each time he did. Where is she? It wasn't like her not to call if she thought she was going to be later than expected. He couldn't count the number of times he'd been annoyed by her insistence that she call home while they were on the job if she knew something might detain her, so what the hell was going on now? Surely, she wasn't still shopping?
"You okay, Lee?" Jamie inquired when he noticed his stepdad's furrowed brow.
"Sure," he lied, not wanting to get the boys as worried as he was. "It's just these lights. It's harder than it looks."
"That's for sure," Phillip nodded in agreement.
"Listen, I'm going to leave you guys to this for a minute." He rose from his spot on the floor and walked into the kitchen toward the phone, glaring at it for a moment and then shaking his head. Who the hell are you going to call, stupid? he scolded himself. It wasn't as if they were back in D.C. where he could just call the house or the school or somewhere else Amanda might be.
He let out a deep sigh and leaned against the wall as his mind turned over all the possibilities. She had said that she wanted to report the foster parents, so maybe that had taken longer than she'd planned on, especially since the local sheriff's department thought Ivy had been kidnapped. Or maybe she hadn't been able to get the girl into a doctor right away and was still sitting in some waiting room somewhere. No, he immediately rejected that thought because doctors' offices had phones she could have called from to let him know it was taking longer than expected and so did a sheriff's office.
His thoughts were interrupted by the phone ringing. "Finally!" he breathed a sigh of relief as he snatched it up. "Amanda?"
"Oh, Lee, thank goodness you're there. I tried calling a couple of hours ago but no one answered and this is the first time they've let me try again."
"They? They who? Amanda, what's going on? Where are you? Are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine, but I need your help because 'they' is the local sheriff's office and they wouldn't let me call when I wanted to because...well, because I'm...I'm in j-jail. They arrested me because they think I'm the one who kidnapped Ivy."